Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Penguin Readers Level 7: Homegoing (ELT Graded Reader) by Yaa Gyasi

68 reviews

shlymiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, War, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

This author could not go a single chapter with talking about women’s breasts and that’s before the one chapter where a man uses at least a. Paragraph to describe the ass of the woman he married and after she is kidnapped into slavery after the fugitive slave act is passed he literally sees her in other women regardless of ass based on if they have a big ass to the point a woman catches his attention to slap him for staring. On that end while  a book that discusses Africans who will become Ghanaians and Americans will cover and discuss violence of all sorts into black Women especially sexual a lot of the violence to women in the book felt contrived and not taken that seriously or confused inherently for depth.

 Many of the chapters felt like they were shoehorning American milestones or historical events or topics surrounding racism. As well as in my opinion using Ghanaian faith and religion at multiple points it mystically move a plot point forward the author clearly wrote herself into a corner for. I hated the mother burning all of her children but one alive scene in a dream, bc I don’t think the book took the murder of the daughters seriously especially to insist spirits made her do it when she literally did not know she did it. Also at times her protagonists had very ahistorical social norms where they’d either be the most special or educated or the most suffering or ostracized person among their environmental or all those things at once while clearly trying to represent general Ghanaian and Black American history it was very lazy and off putting to see constantly. 

After reading it I’m not surprised to see a lot of reviews by Ghanaian nationals disliking the book or thinking it’s at least a mess of the Ghanaian cutler and history it tries to represent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Slavery, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Drug use, Confinement, Child abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity

itsmaryssae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Slavery, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Rape, Mental illness, Torture, and Racial slurs

fionafsw's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book was an epic spanning generations and continents, showing how we are the product of our history and how trauma doesn't get erased with every new generation but instead accumulates. Each character and her/his story was immensely interesting in and of itself and of course in connection with all the others to create a multi-century history featuring, through a feminist lens, the deepest shames of humanity (namely the slave trade and all related injustices). Well-written and a very rewarding read. I'd love to read more from Gyasi in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Drug use, Slavery, Sexual assault, Deportation, Abandonment, Death of parent, Trafficking, Police brutality, and Death

0hannah0banana0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

10/10 the author managed to beautifully show us many generations and their lives and trauma in this book. This book made me feel all the feelings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, War, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Vomit, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Violence, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Genocide, and Drug use

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Sexism, War, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Bullying

linhsreadinghour's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Beautiful beautiful historical fiction novel that follows the descendants of two sisters and how the decisions of each family member impacted the next. The writing was gorgeous and hooked me right in. Despite following each character for one chapter each time, Yaa Gyasi doesn’t fail to explore the intricacies and conflicts of their own lives, whilst weaving in the historical context and significance of the time period. Stunning book and so illuminating as a non-black person. Will become a classic in the future no doubt, a must read for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Death, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Rape

chuck3791's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A pretty great about inherited trauma. Worthwhile but I will definitely not be reading it again and would only recommend with heavy caution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Death, Slavery, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Addiction, and Grief

crybabybea's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Torture, Drug use, Misogyny, Slavery, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Classism, Racism, Sexual content, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, War, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

mdal26's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Police brutality, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Dementia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Hate crime, Addiction, and Grief